Printing device



ct. 3, 1933. M. [n lGljpLtE` 1,928,685

PRINTING DEVICE Filed Nov. 2. 1929 Patented oci. s, ri933 baratas f 1,928,685 Y raiNriNo nevrou Richard liugdale, Dedham, `li'lass., assigner to Farringtonv Manufacturing il?oinrntny,k Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts iipplication November `2, i929. a Serial No. 424,291 l iofciaimf..` (outil-33e) T Ihisinvention in part'disclosed in my copending Patent No. y1,?01592 grantedApril `A21,y

`1931, for improvements in printing devices, `and relates toprinting devices whereinan ink.' ribbon isnioved relative to the impressionjmechanism.

One of `the objects or the invention is toprovide improved andsimpliiied mechanism for reversing the direction'of movement of theribbon, to perj 15 breakage' ofthe ribbon.

Another object of my invention is f to'provide an improved ,ribbon reel. Further objects of .my

invention relate to features of construction which are explained' inthe accompanying vspeciiicatmn lzol and drawine My 'invention is vof general applicability the printing art but for thepurpose of illustration will be ldescribed as Ihave applied itr to a'printingl machine for printing, sales slips'shown in the 25a accompanying drawing, in which:

V iig. l is aside elevation, partially broken away, ofr a "machine for printing 'sales slips embodying my invention; ,1 f

j rig. 2 isasectiononthefiih 2-2 of Fig'. 1 fwith 3o one of theribbon' reels removed; l

Fig. Sis a section onthe line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an elevation ofthe tumblershown in rial? J' f f f Fig.l 5 illustrates one of the ribbon reels;

Fig. 6 isasection on the line 6 4-6 of Fig'. .5; and Fig. 7 is a Vdiagrammatic *view of thev ribbon M reels and the ribbon actuating '"andreve'r'sing I" toward and from the plate holder y12 andfor'operating the impression mechanism and ribbon feedingv andreversing mechanism. lA suitable typfo-` graphical 'plate 18 is adaptedfto be 'retained by .j 50 the plate holder 12, one ormoresheets of` paper,

such .asjsales slips, placed thereupon, 'andthe` casing 14 swung to the Aposition shownin Fig. 1 wherein in inking ribbon 29 issuperposed upon the sheet or sheets of paper. jIn this position an' ,f 55 impression may be made upon the sheets of paper located adjacentv opposite side by depressing the operating handlejl and thereby". ycausing a verticalplunge'r 30 to swing a pivotally mounted roller yoke 36 tothe right inA Fig. land move an impression -roller 28 in a horizontaldireotion over the inking ribbony 29. Plunger is 60 normally retained in itsuppermost yposition by a `suitaliile spring.` This apparatus is claimed and more fully described and illustrated' in my 4co' v pendingjapplication Serial NoL`39L'l88, filed Sep; tember 11, 1929, 'and' no furtlier `description 65 thereof is believed necessary. y The inking ribbon 29 is'wound upon reels 40 andi' 41 and `is' directedto and from the lower portion ofthe y casing byvertical ribbonv guides 4U42 which constitute ilanges of aninner casing 44fand 'are walls of th'ejmain or outer casing 14.k i AApreerred mechanism for Asupporting the ribbon` reels is illustrated in Figs. 1' and 2. This mechanism comprises two cylindrical stud shafts 75 52 and 53 rigidly mountedcnthe'casing 1 4, by means of screws 62, and each having enlarge ments in the form of flangesf63 spaced from the back ofthe inner casing 14,' andi'adapted loosely to receive a ratchetwheel or 51 and a spacing 30 washer k64. Each ratchet wheel has pins 65 pro-4 jecting iorwardlytherefroin'- immediately voutside the periphery of the flange 6 3 on thev shafts 52 andj53." As shownin Fig. 2 the inner casing 44 is provided Vwith arecess 66 immediately below each 85 i of the reel supports and a Spring 70 is mounted on the inner casing 44, by` means of lstruck-up ears S'Tgto extendinto the recess @Gand bearfagainst thefspacing washer 64.

Y The ribbon reels are preferablyA constructed as 99 shown in`Fig.'5, lcomprising a central tubular portion 59fhavingradialfianges68 and 69 at the opposite ends,v the rear anges 69j having teeth `'Z6 struck up rearwardly therefrom 'to inter- 'engage withthe pins 65 on the ratchet wheels. '95 As shown in Fig. 1 the ratchet wheels have their teeth reversed with respect to' eachother so that thel ribbonr 29 is fed in one direction across the bottom of the lcasing 14 when `one ratchet Wheel' is actuated and inthe reverse'direction when ,thev 100 other ratchet wheel is actuated. Y

' I have provided a mechanism cooperating with these ratchet wheels foractuatingthe ribbon Y reels at each 'operation of the device in order to Yanism to vengage voneofthe two ratchet wheels connected respectively tothe ribbon reels. Re-

ferring to Figs. l, 3, 4, and 7, a tumbler 46 is pivotally mounted on the lower end of the plunger between the two ribbon reels to swing toward either of these ribbon reels. Tumbler 46 is provided on one face with a pair of countersunk holes 47 and 48 on the opposite sides of its center, and plunger 3G carries a spring-pressed pin 49 adapted to project into either of these holes and thereby yieldingly position the tumbler adjacent one or the other of the rolls of ink ribbon.

- Tumbler 46 is provided with two pivotally mounted pawls 48 and 49 for engaging respectively ratchet wheels 50 and 51 connected to reel retaining shafts 52 and 53. As the plunger El()V returns to its uppermost position at the end of the printing impression, one of the pawls 48 or 49, depending upon the position of the tumbler, engages its adjacent ratchet wheel and winds a portion of the ribbon upon a corresponding reel. In this manner the ribbon is advanced in a step by step manner. The ratchet Wheels are prevented from moving freely by the frictional engagement of springs 70 with spacing washers 64.

As the tumbler successivelyv engages a ratchet n) wheel and causes the ribbon to wind up on the corresponding reel, continued operation of the devicewill transfer most of the ribbon to this reel. I prefer to reverse' the direction of move- ,i ment of the ribbon automatically by causing the increased thickness of j ribbon on the reel upon which ribbon is being wound to bring about a reversal of position of the tumbler and thereby disconnect the tumbler from the reel which has been Wound up and cause the other ratchet wheel and 5 reel to be actuated in the opposite direction.

Tumbler 46 is provided at its opposite sides, adjacent the respective rolls of ribbon,.with ribbon contacting members 55 and 56. When a roll of I ribbon on a reel attains a certain thickness, it contacts with one of the ribbon contacting members 55 or 56, anda suincient thickness of ribbon on either of the reels moves the tumbler to its opposite position, and thereby causes a reversal ofthe ribbon.

In order to prevent the ribbon reversing tumbler from moving slowly from one position'to the other in proportion to the necessarily slow change of thickness of the rolls of ribbon on the reels,

, and a consequent danger of the ribbon reversing tumbler becoming .stuck in an intermediate position between the ratchet wheels', I cause the ribbon to move the tumbler from one ratchet wheel to the other both positively and rapidly. In order to accomplish this I prefer to cause the mass of Wound ribbon on a reel to operate in the manner of a cam or eccentric having an eccentricity greater than the thickness of one layer of ribbon, whereby the ribbon reversing tumbler is moved into its opposite position during a portion or one revolution of theV eccentric massof ribbon.

A preferable manner of causing the ribbon to act in this manner is to utilize a ribbon reel having a central portion provided with an eccentric part having an eccentricity greater than the thickness of one layer of ribbon. This construction is illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 wherein the central tubular portion 59 of the reel is shown as provided with an integral protuberance 60. The

,. central tubular portion of the reel is preferably engage the inner end of the inking ribbon to secure it to the reel.

As the device is used, successive operations of the plunger 30 cause one of the pawls of the tumbler to wind the greater portion of the inking ribbonupon its associated reel. Referring to the diagrammatic showing of Fig. 6, the protuberance 60 on the central portion of the reel causes the ribbon roll to function as an eccentric, and after the ribbon reaches a certain thickness, for example that shown in Fig. 6, the eccentricity and camming action of the roll will cause a rapid and positive movement of the tumbler to its opposite position, and a consequent reversal of direction of the inking ribbon.

I claim:

l. In a printing machine, the combination of an ink ribbon, a pair of ribbon reels upon which said ribbon is wound and unwound, means for rotatably supporting each of said ribbon reels, a

pair ci ratchet wheels each operatively associated.

actuate either ratchet wheel to rotate the correspending reel to wind ribbon thereon, said member being engageable with the roll of ribbon which is being wound and being adapted to be moved toward the opposite reel by said roll when the latter attains a predetermined thickness.

2. In a printing machine, the combination of an ink ribbon, a pair of ribbon reels upon which said ribbon is wound and unwound, means for rotatably supporting each of said ribbon reels, a pair of ratchet wheels each operatively associated with one of said reels, a movable member, pawl means movable with said member and adapted to actuate either ratchet wheel to rotate the corresponding reel to wind ribbon thereon, means for yieldingly positioning said member to retain the pawl means in a position for engagement with a ratchet wheel, said member being engageable with the roll of ribbon which is being Wound and being adapted to be moved toward the opposite reel by said roll when the latter atreels and in another yposition to cause reversed' rotation of said reels, whereby the ribbon may be moved back and forth from one reel to the other, said tumbler being adapted to be moved from one position to the other by theroll' of ribbon which is being wound up when the latter attains a predetermined thickness.

4. In a printing machine, the combination of a ribbon reel, means for rotatably supporting said reel, a ratchet wheel operatively associated with said reel, pawl means for engaging said ratchet wheel to rotate said reel, and shift means associated with said pawl means for engaging the periphery of a woundroll of ribbon on said reel and adapted to removesaid pawl means from said ratchet' wheel when the ribbon roll attains a predetermined thickness, said shift means including a tumbler which Amoves past the reel at each stroke of the pawl means and, when said roll attains a'predetermined Amaximum thickness, im-i pacts Ythe periphery of the roll suniciently to kick the tumbler away from the reel.

5. In a printingv machine the combination of rotary means for winding an ink ribbony into a roll havingr aneccentricity greater than the thickness of a layer of ribbon, said means comprising an eccentric reel,` and ribbon reversing mechanism kresponsive to the eccentricitv of saidroll after it has attained a predetermined thickness.

6; In a printing machine the `combination of an eccentric reel for winding an ink ribbon into a roll having an eccentricity greater than the thickness of a layer of ribbon and ribbon reversing mechanism responsive to the thickness of said "7. In a printing machine the combination of an eccentric reel for winding an ink ribbon into a roll having an eccentricity greater than the thickl Y ness of a layer of ribbon, meansfor rotating said reel ina winding direction,and means responsive to the eccentricity of said roll for disengagingy the ribbon roll hasattained a given thickness.

9. A printing machine comprising a pair of rotary ribbon reels, an ink ribbon carried by said reels, said reels each being adapted 'to wind Y up and unwind said ribbon, impression mechanism cooperating with said ribbon, a tumbler movable with said impression mechanism and adapted in one position to cause rotation of said reels, whereby the ribbon may be moved back and forthfrom one reel to the other, said tumbler being adapted to be movedv from one position to the other by the roll of ribbon which is being Wound uprwhen the latter attains a predeter-k mined thickness, the winding surfaces of saidl reels 'having an eccentricity greater than the thickness of a layer of ribbon. g 10. A printing machine comprising a pair of rotary ribbon reels, a ribbon carried by said reels,

said reels each ybeing adapted to wind up and unwind said ribbon, an impression roller movable over said ribbon, a plunger for moving said roller, a tumbler movable with said plunger and adapted in one .position toy cause rotation of said reels and in another position to cause reversedrotation'oi said reels, whereby the ribbon may be moved back and forth from one Vreel to the other, said tumbler being adapted to be moved from one position to the other by the roll of ribbon which is being Wound up when the latter attains a predeterminedV thickness, the Winding surfaces of said thickness of Va layer of ribbon. f RICHARD M. DUGDALE. K

Y 13o l loo reels having an eccentricityy greater than thev 

